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G. L. BURDEN.

GATE. No. 312,427. Patented Feb. 17, 1885.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS;

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UNTTTTD STATES PATENT Urrrcs.

CHARLES L. BURDEN, or GUN CITY, MissoUnI.

GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 312,427, dated February 17, 1885.

Application filed May 10, lSF-l. (No model) i To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. BURDEN, of Gun City, in the county of vCass and State ofl\lissouri,have invented a new and Improved Gate, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, easy-working, and durable gate for use on farms and elsewhere.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts. as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front perspective View of the gate, showing it closed. Fig. 2 is a view showing the gate open and with the fence-rail in section on line 00 :r, Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrow; and Figs. 3 and 4 are face views of the upper and lower hinge-cleats, respectively.

The letterA indicates the gate, which is composed of rails a a a, tied or braced together by center or intermediate upright-s, b b, and outer uprights, c 0, arranged at opposite sides of the rails, and an inclined upright, d, fastened at the inner or rear sides of the rails, as shown. The uprights c c are at the end of the gate which closes against the latch post 13, to which the fixed railse of the fence at one side of the gateway are fastened.

0 represents a tall post at the rear side of the hinging end of the gate, and D is a shorter post set to one side of the post 0, and at such distance in front of it as shall leave a space,f, Fig. 2, between the faces of the two posts to receive the rails of the closed gate, as in Fig. 1. The fixed rails g of the fence are fastened to the post D, as shown. 1

The hingeposts O D, besides being set in the ground, are tied together firmly by the upper and lower hinge-cleats, E F, on which the upper and lower rails, to a of the gate rest and swing as the gate is opened and closed, amd the gate is supported at the outer or latching end by the stay rope, wire, or cord G, having a hook, h, which may be passed into an eye or staple, t, at the inside or roadway face, and at the head of the post 0, for automatically closing the gate; or the hook it may be passed into a ring or staple, j, at the front face of the post, for holding the gate open, as v hereinafter more fully described.

At H is shown a wire or cord, which may be used to stay the head of post 0 to a stake, l, driven into the ground, in case the ground is too soft to hold the post securely. The lower rail, a of the gate is beveled upward at the lower edge of its inner end, as at It, and the upper edge of the cleat F is beveled next the post D, as at Z, so that the beveled edge 75 may freely work over the edge of cleat F as the gate swings, and the upper cleat, E, is beveled downward at m at the face of post 0,

topermit the lower edge of the upper rail, 0!,

of the gate to take the inclined position given it by the stay G when the gate swings open, as in Fig. 2. It will be noticed that the inclined upright d overlaps at its lower end the front face of the post 0, whereby the rails of the gate are held out of frictional contact with the post, and that the projecting toe or footn of the upright d. rests against the lower cleat, F, to prevent the gate from sliding backward between the posts 0 D. One of the rails of the gate-preferably the second rail from the top-projects at 0. to be engaged bya latch, P, pivoted at p to the post B, and working in a keeper, '1", secured to the post.

The operation is as follows: The length of the stay G is adjusted when the gate is closed, and when the gate is fully open the stay G, when fastened at 'i to the post 0, will lift the outer end of the gate five or six inches above its hinging end, which rests on the cleats E F, and the stay will constantly draw upon the open gate to close it when released. As the gate opens, the lower'rail, a", will ride by its incline 7.: over the incline lot cleat F, and the upper rail, 0, will ride over or upon the in cline m of cleat E, and when the gate is partly opened the rails a a will bear upon the points 25 t of the cleats E F with a small surface-contact andlittle friction, and by the action of the upright (Z in holding the gate-rails away from the post C the gate will swing very easily. Vhen the stay G is held to staple t, the gate may be held open by springing its lower rail over a stake driven into the ground, and by removing the stay-hook h from stapled and I cal for its purposes.

hooking it into the ringj the gate will be held open at any desired angle by the stay itself, as the stay does not then pull on the gate to close it, as when attached at i to the side face of post 0. l

The posts 0 D may be set at the opposite side of the gateway from that shown, so as to swing the gate at its opposite end, if desired.

As my improved gate works by a loose hinging connection with the cleats E F, expensive metallic hinges and fittings are dispensed with, and the gate works without the noise common to metal hinges, and the entire construction of the gate is simple, and it may be made and set up at low cost, and it is durable and prae- If desired, the faces of the end of the lower gate-rail, a", and (:leat E, which rub or work i on each other, may be provided with plates of l metal to prevent wear of the wood surfaces.

Havingthus described my invention, I claim I as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent I 1. The combination, with the posts 0 D, having a spaoe,f, between them, and the cleats l E F, connecting said posts, ofthe gate A, having its top and bottom rails resting on said l cleats, and the inclined strip (7, extending at i its lower end beyond the post 0, to form a toe, n, to bear on said post and cleat F, substantially as set forth.

2. A swinging gate consisting, essentially, of the posts G D, having a passage,f, between them, the conneetingeleats E F, staple t at the side of post 0, the ring or staplej at the front face of the post 0, and the stay G, secured at one end to the free end of the gate, and adapted to engage at its opposite end with the staple i or ringj, for the purposes described.

3. The combination of the hinge-posts O D, offset from each other to form a space, f, between them, the hinge-eleats E F, connecting the posts andhaving beveled edges Zm, re spectively, and the gate A, resting by its rails (t a on the cleats E F, said gate having a beveled edge at It on its lower rail, and an inclined upright, (1. bearing against the faces of post C and cleat F, and being hung by a stay, G, from the post 0, substantially as shown and described.

CHARLES L. BURDEN.

\Vitnesses:

J. H. JANUARY, JAMES N. WILLOUGHBY. 

